Garment supporting strap



March 12, 1957 s. A. SIEGEL 2,784,415

GARMENT SUPPORTING STRAP Filed April 9, 1954 55 5o 4o 54 65 l5 3o 30 y mvENToR SALLY ANN SIEGEL BYAM mi ATTORNEYS United States Patent O GARMENT SUPPORTING s rRAP Sally Ann Siegel, Los Angeles, Calif. Application April 9, 1954, Serial No.. 422,011

z claims. (ci. z-ssfs.) f

My invention has to do with shoulder straps for supporting garments from the shoulders of a wearer.

While my improved shoulder strap is particularly useful to support brassieres, it is also useful for supporting other garments such as slips, dresses, bathing suits, etc.

A disadvantage of conventional shoulder straps has long been that they tend to cut into the top or peak portion of the shoulders and to otherwise become uncomfortable. In an effort to overcome this disadvantage, it has heretofore been proposed to provide padding for such straps but this expedient has not proved successful.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide a garment supporting shoulder strap which is so constructed that it will not cut into the shoulder of the wearer or otherwise produce the discomfort of conventional straps.

It is a further and more particular object to provide a garment supporting shoulder strap which incorporates novel means for so distributing the weight of the supported garment as to eliminate discomfort.

Another object is to provide a strap which is so constructed that during various body and shoulder movements of the wearer, such as momentarily lowering of a shoulder, the supporting strap may be caused to momentarily lift from engagement with the shoulder and expose the skin beneath the strap to atmosphere.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a garment supporting shoulder strap which is so constructed that it is ventilated.

Other objects will appear hereinafter. Y

Without intending thereby to limit the broader scope of my invention, except as may appear from the appended claims, I shall now describe a presently preferred embodiment thereof, for which purpose I shall refer to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a garment supported by my improved shoulder straps;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the shoulder straps;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing a modification of my invention; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a further modification.

Referring now to the drawings, I show a pair of my improved straps, each being generally denoted by the numeral 5, and being of the same construction, the straps being shown as being used to support an otherwise conventional brassiere garment B; it being understood, of course, that the straps can be used to support other garments. o

Each of the straps comprises a strip of flexible fabric, preferably of a cloth fabric, folded to provide two sleeve-like portions, and in each of the sleeve-like portions there is mounted a reinforcing member 30, although the reinforcing member preferably does not extend throughout the entire length of the strap but only exshoulder straps 5 Camp estantes Mar. 1a 19,51

tends throughout thatpor'tion which extends over l.the top or peakV of the shoulder. In other Words, as shown in Fig. 2, the reinforcing only extendsbetwcen the points marked. xt v 4 i B-Y reference to Fig 3 it will be seen that each of the r1 15. consisting 0f a stri of. ,cloth fabricY ,folded upon itself from each sidev to provide a ,bottom wall 4Q,y Side walls 41. and top wall portions 42,' whosegsrttiguous..edges 42.4. are Preferably transversely spaced apart Thus two outer sleeve-like'portions are formed.' In each of the sleeve-like portions, or between each of the top wall portions 42 and the underlying portion ofthe bottom wall 40 I sandwich a reinforcing member 30 comprising a strip of flexible fabric, also preferably a cloth fabric, folded upon itself to provide bottom wall 50, side wall 51, andtop wall 52 which top and bottom walls terminate at their sides in attaching flanges 54. A thin strip 55 of relatively hard, pliant material is enclosed within the fold. It is my preference that the strip 55 be of copper and be from two to four thousandths of an inch in thickness.

In some cases, the inner sleeves, comprising walls 50, 51 and 52, may be eliminated and the strip 5S enclosed directly within the respective outer sleeve-like portions.

The edge portions 42a of the outer sleeve are secured to the bottom wall 4l), the edge portions 42a are secured together, and the flange portions 54 of the reinforcing member 30 are secured in the outer sleeve by fagoted stitching so as to provide between the edges 42a a ventilation space separated from the skin of the wearer only by the underlying portion of the bottom wall 40 of the outer sleeve.

In conventional manner, each of these straps may be made adjustable as to length by means of a conventional buckle 70.

In use, the reinforcing members 30 cause the weight of the supported garment to be evenly distributed over the shoulder of the wearer and whenever the weight is momentarily relieved, as by the wearer lowering a shoulder, the reinforcing causes the pressure of the strap over the shoulder to be momentarily relieved throughout the length of that portion of the strap which carries the reinforcing members.

In Fig. 4, I show a modified form of my invention wherein the stiff pliant strip 55a, which is like previously described strip 55, is enclosed within a cloth fabric sleeve 71.

In Fig. 5, I show a further modification wherein each strap 30 is composed of two separate opposed flexible fabric sleeves 80, 81 each having an attaching flange 82. A hard, pliant strip 5Sb, as of copper, is disposed in each sleeve, and the flanges are secured together in edge to edge abutment by stitching 83.

In the form of Figs. 1-3 as well as in the form of Figs. 4 and 5 the hard, pliant strip 55, 55a or 55b is preferably bonded to the enclosing fabric sleeve by a suitable adhesive.

In use, I have found that a person can wear my iniproved straps to support a garment of considerable weight without the straps causing any of the substantial discomfort heretofore experienced with conventional straps or even with the padded straps heretofore tried. Being pliant, the user can easily pre-shape the strap to conform to the shoulder.

I claim:

` l. A supporting strap for a foundation garment com prising a flexible, flattened, tube-like fabric strip, a core element disposed longitudinally in said strip, said core element comprising a length of flat pliant copper disposed longitudinally in and secured to said strip and ses theflexble fabric membtl' adapted to cause said` strip to confoim to and remain in conformance with the shoulder of a wearer', and4 means for securing the ends of said strip to a garment.

2. A supporting strap for anfoundation garment comprising a vfleiible, Aflattened tube-like cfabric strip," a core element disposed longitudinally i'n'said strip, s'aid core element comprising a'pair of parallel sleeve-like exible fabric strips, a at length of pliant metal disposed longitudinaliy in and adheredto each of said sleevelike fabric strips and adapted to cause said strips to conform to: and remain in conformance with the shape of the shoulder of av wearer, stitching means Vsecuring said sleeve-like strips to said tube-like strip, and means for securing lthe ends of said tube-like strip to said garment,

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Forest June 3, 1924 Beiling Dec. 10, 1929 Higgins Nov. 7, 1933 Deegan Dec. 18, 1934 Crewdsor Dec. 14, 1937 ,Stein Nov. 24, 1942 'Pease Ian. 10, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain July 5, 1892 France.` Sept. 13, 1950 

